The concept and structure of the method of scientific research. Classification of general scientific methods
An essential, sometimes decisive role in the construction of any scientific work play applied research methods.
Research methods are divided into empirical (empirical - literally - perceived through the senses) and theoretical.
| Methods scientific research | |||
| Theoretical | empirical | ||
| Operation Methods | Action Methods | Operation Methods | Action Methods |
| · Analysis · Synthesis · Comparison · Abstraction · Concretization · Generalization · Formalization · Induction · Deduction · Idealization · Analogy · Modeling · Thought experiment · Imagination | Dialectics (as a method) Scientific theories tested by practice Proof Method of knowledge systems analysis Deductive (axiomatic) method Inductive-deductive method Identification and resolution of contradictions Statement of problems Formation of hypotheses | Study of literature, documents and results of activities Observation Measuring Questioning (oral and written) Peer review Testing | Object tracking methods: survey, monitoring, study and generalization of experience Object transformation methods: experimental work, experiment Object research methods in time: retrospective, forecasting |
Theoretical methods:
- methods - cognitive actions: identifying and resolving contradictions, posing a problem, building a hypothesis, etc.;
– methods-operations: analysis, synthesis, comparison, abstraction and concretization, etc.
Empirical methods:
- methods - cognitive actions: examination, monitoring, experiment, etc.;
– methods-operations: observation, measurement, questioning, testing, etc.
Theoretical methods (methods-operations).
Theoretical methods-operations have a wide field of application, both in scientific research and in practice.
Theoretical methods - operations are determined (considered) according to the main mental operations, which are: analysis and synthesis, comparison, abstraction and concretization, generalization, formalization, induction and deduction, idealization, analogy, modeling, thought experiment.
Analysis is the decomposition of the whole under study into parts, the selection of individual features and qualities of a phenomenon, process or relations of phenomena, processes. Analysis procedures are an integral part of any scientific research and usually form its first phase, when the researcher moves from an undivided description of the object under study to the identification of its structure, composition, properties and features.
One and the same phenomenon, process can be analyzed in many aspects. A comprehensive analysis of the phenomenon allows you to consider it deeper.
Synthesis is a combination of various elements, aspects of an object into a single whole (system). Synthesis is not a simple summation, but a semantic connection. If we simply connect phenomena, no system of connections will arise between them, only a chaotic accumulation of individual facts is formed. Synthesis is opposed to analysis, with which it is inextricably linked.
Synthesis as a cognitive operation appears in various functions of theoretical research. Any process of formation of concepts is based on the unity of the processes of analysis and synthesis. Empirical data obtained in a particular study are synthesized during their theoretical generalization. In theoretical scientific knowledge, synthesis acts as a function of the relationship of theories related to the same subject area, as well as a function of combining competing theories (for example, the synthesis of corpuscular and wave representations in physics).
Synthesis also plays an important role in empirical research.
Analysis and synthesis are closely related. If the researcher has a more developed ability to analyze, there may be a danger that he will not be able to find a place for details in the phenomenon as a whole. The relative predominance of synthesis leads to superficiality, to the fact that details essential for the study, which can be of great importance for understanding the phenomenon as a whole, will not be noticed.
Comparison is a cognitive operation that underlies judgments about the similarity or difference of objects. With the help of comparison, quantitative and qualitative characteristics of objects are revealed, their classification, ordering and evaluation are carried out. Comparison is comparing one thing with another. Wherein important role grounds play, or signs of comparison, which determine the possible relationship between objects.
Comparison makes sense only in a set of homogeneous objects that form a class. Comparison of objects in a particular class is carried out according to the principles essential for this consideration. At the same time, objects that are comparable in one feature may not be comparable in other features. The more accurately the signs are estimated, the more thoroughly the comparison of phenomena is possible. Integral part comparison is always analysis, since for any comparison in phenomena it is necessary to isolate the corresponding signs of comparison. Since comparison is the establishment of certain relationships between phenomena, then, naturally, synthesis is also used in the course of comparison.
Abstraction is one of the main mental operations that allows you to mentally isolate and turn individual aspects, properties or states of an object in its pure form into an independent object of consideration. Abstraction underlies the processes of generalization and concept formation.
Abstraction consists in isolating such properties of an object that do not exist by themselves and independently of it. Such isolation is possible only in the mental plane - in abstraction. Thus, the geometric figure of the body does not really exist by itself and cannot be separated from the body. But, thanks to abstraction, it is mentally distinguished, fixed, for example, with the help of a drawing, and independently considered in its specific properties.
One of the main functions of abstraction is to highlight the common properties of a certain set of objects and fix these properties, for example, through concepts.
Concretization is a process opposite to abstraction, that is, finding a holistic, interconnected, multilateral and complex. The researcher initially forms various abstractions, and then, on their basis, through concretization, reproduces this integrity (mental concrete), but at a qualitatively different level of cognition of the concrete. Therefore, dialectics distinguishes in the process of cognition in the coordinates "abstraction - concretization" two processes of ascent: the ascent from the concrete to the abstract and then the process of ascent from the abstract to the new concrete (G. Hegel). The dialectic of theoretical thinking consists in the unity of abstraction, the creation of various abstractions and concretization, the movement towards the concrete and its reproduction.
Generalization is one of the main cognitive mental operations, consisting in the selection and fixation of relatively stable, invariant properties objects and their relationships. Generalization allows you to display the properties and relationships of objects, regardless of the particular and random conditions of their observation. Comparing objects of a certain group from a certain point of view, a person finds, singles out and designates with a word their identical, common properties, which can become the content of the concept of this group, class of objects. Separating general properties from private ones and designating them with a word makes it possible to cover the entire variety of objects in an abbreviated, concise form, reduce them to certain classes, and then, through abstractions, operate with concepts without directly referring to individual objects. One and the same real object can be included in both narrow and wide classes, for which the scales of common features are built according to the principle of generic relations. The function of generalization consists in ordering the variety of objects, their classification.
Formalization is the display of the results of thinking in precise concepts or statements. It is, as it were, a mental operation of the “second order”. Formalization is opposed to intuitive thinking. in mathematics and formal logic formalization is the display of meaningful knowledge in a symbolic form or in a formalized language. Formalization, that is, the abstraction of concepts from their content, ensures the systematization of knowledge, in which its individual elements coordinate with each other. Formalization plays essential role in the development of scientific knowledge, since intuitive concepts, although they seem clearer from the point of view of ordinary consciousness, are of little use for science: in scientific knowledge it is often impossible not only to resolve, but even to formulate and pose problems until the structure of related concepts to them. true science is possible only on the basis of abstract thinking, consistent reasoning of the researcher, proceeding in a logical language form through concepts, judgments and conclusions.
In scientific judgments, links are established between objects, phenomena or between their specific features. In scientific conclusions, one judgment proceeds from another; on the basis of already existing conclusions, a new one is made. There are two main types of inference: inductive (induction) and deductive (deduction).
Induction is a conclusion from particular objects, phenomena to a general conclusion, from individual facts to generalizations.
Deduction is a conclusion from the general to the particular, from general judgments to particular conclusions.
Idealization is the mental construction of ideas about objects that do not exist or are not feasible in reality, but those for which there are prototypes in the real world. The process of idealization is characterized by abstraction from the properties and relations inherent in the objects of reality and the introduction into the content of the formed concepts of such features that, in principle, cannot belong to their real prototypes. Examples of concepts that are the result of idealization can be the mathematical concepts of "point", "line"; in physics - "material point", "absolutely black body», « ideal gas" etc.
Concepts that are the result of idealization are said to be thought of as idealized (or ideal) objects. Having formed concepts of this kind about objects with the help of idealization, one can subsequently operate with them in reasoning as with really existing objects and build abstract schemes of real processes that serve for a deeper understanding of them. In this sense, idealization is closely related to modeling.
Analogy, modeling. Analogy is a mental operation when the knowledge obtained from the consideration of any one object (model) is transferred to another, less studied or less accessible for study, less visual object, called the prototype, the original. It opens up the possibility of transferring information by analogy from model to prototype. This is the essence of one of the special methods of the theoretical level - modeling (building and researching models). The difference between analogy and modeling is that if analogy is one of the mental operations, then modeling can be considered in different occasions both as a mental operation and as an independent method - a method-action.
A model is an auxiliary object, chosen or transformed for cognitive purposes, which provides new information about the main object. Modeling forms are diverse and depend on the models used and their scope. By the nature of the models, subject and sign (information) modeling are distinguished.
Object modeling is carried out on a model that reproduces certain geometric, physical, dynamic, or functional characteristics of the modeling object - the original; in a particular case - analog modeling, when the behavior of the original and the model is described by common mathematical relationships, for example, by common differential equations. If the model and the object being modeled are of the same physical nature, then one speaks of physical modeling. In sign modeling, diagrams, drawings, formulas, etc. serve as models. The most important type of such modeling is mathematical modeling (later we will consider this method in more detail).
Simulation is always used together with other research methods, it is especially closely related to the experiment. The study of any phenomenon on its model is a special kind of experiment - a model experiment, which differs from an ordinary experiment in that in the process of cognition an "intermediate link" is included - a model that is both a means and an object of experimental research that replaces the original.
A special kind of modeling is a thought experiment. In such an experiment, the researcher mentally creates ideal objects, correlates them with each other within the framework of a certain dynamic model, mentally imitating the movement and those situations that could take place in a real experiment. At the same time, ideal models and objects help to identify "in pure form" the most important, essential connections and relationships, mentally play possible situations, weed out unnecessary options.
Modeling also serves as a way of constructing a new one that did not exist earlier in practice. Researcher studying character traits real processes and their tendencies, searches for their new combinations on the basis of the leading idea, makes their mental redesign, that is, models the required state of the system under study (just like any person and even an animal, builds its activity, activity on the basis of the “model of the required future" - according to N.A. Bernstein [Nikolai Alexandrovich Bernstein - Soviet psychophysiologist and physiologist, creator of a new direction of research - the physiology of activity]). At the same time, models-hypotheses are created that reveal the mechanisms of communication between the components of the studied, which are then tested in practice. In this understanding, modeling has recently become widespread in public and humanities- in economics, pedagogy, etc., when different authors offer different models of firms, industries, educational systems, etc.
Along with the operations of logical thinking, theoretical methods-operations can also include (possibly conditionally) imagination as a thought process for creating new ideas and images with its specific forms of fantasy (creation of implausible, paradoxical images and concepts) and dreams (as the creation of images of the desired).
Theoretical methods (methods - cognitive actions).
The general philosophical, general scientific method of cognition is dialectics - the real logic of meaningful creative thinking reflecting the objective dialectic of reality itself. The basis of dialectics as a method scientific knowledge is the ascent from the abstract to the concrete (G. Hegel) - from general and content-poor forms to dissected and richer content, to a system of concepts that make it possible to comprehend an object in its essential characteristics. In dialectics, all problems acquire a historical character, the study of the development of an object is a strategic platform for cognition. Finally, dialectics is oriented in cognition to the disclosure and methods of resolving contradictions.
The laws of dialectics: the transition of quantitative changes into qualitative ones, the unity and struggle of opposites, etc.; analysis of paired dialectical categories: historical and logical, phenomenon and essence, general (universal) and singular, etc. are integral components of any well-structured scientific research.
Scientific theories verified by practice: any such theory, in essence, acts as a method in the construction of new theories in this or even other areas of scientific knowledge, as well as in the function of a method that determines the content and sequence experimental activities researcher. Therefore, the difference between scientific theory as a form of scientific knowledge and as a method of cognition in this case is functional in nature: being formed as a theoretical result of past research, the method acts as a starting point and a condition for subsequent research.
Proof - method - a theoretical (logical) action, in the process of which the truth of a thought is substantiated with the help of other thoughts. Any proof consists of three parts: the thesis, arguments (arguments) and demonstration. According to the method of conducting evidence, there are direct and indirect, according to the form of inference - inductive and deductive. Evidence Rules:
1. The thesis and arguments must be clear and precise.
2. The thesis must remain identical throughout the proof.
3. The thesis should not contain a logical contradiction.
4. The arguments given in support of the thesis must themselves be true, not subject to doubt, must not contradict each other and be a sufficient basis for this thesis.
5. The proof must be complete.
In the totality of methods of scientific knowledge, an important place belongs to the method of analyzing knowledge systems. Any scientific knowledge system has a certain independence in relation to the reflected subject area. In addition, knowledge in such systems is expressed using a language whose properties affect the attitude of knowledge systems to the objects being studied - for example, if any sufficiently developed psychological, sociological, pedagogical concept is translated into, say, English, German, French– will it be unambiguously perceived and understood in England, Germany and France? Further, the use of language as a carrier of concepts in such systems presupposes one or another logical systematization and logically organized use language units to express knowledge. And, finally, no system of knowledge exhausts the entire content of the object under study. In it, only a certain, historically concrete part of such content always receives a description and explanation.
Analysis method scientific systems knowledge plays an important role in empirical and theoretical research tasks: when choosing an initial theory, hypotheses for resolution chosen problem; when distinguishing between empirical and theoretical knowledge, semi-empirical and theoretical solutions scientific problem; when justifying the equivalence or priority of the use of certain mathematical tools in various theories related to the same subject area; when studying the possibilities of extending previously formulated theories, concepts, principles, etc. to new subject areas; substantiation of new possibilities for the practical application of knowledge systems; when simplifying and clarifying knowledge systems for training, popularization; to harmonize with other knowledge systems, etc.
- deductive method (synonym - axiomatic method) - a method of constructing a scientific theory, in which it is based on some initial provisions of an axiom (synonym - postulates), from which all other provisions of this theory (theorem) are derived in a purely logical way through proof. The construction of a theory based on the axiomatic method is usually called deductive. All concepts of deductive theory, except for a fixed number of initial ones (such initial concepts in geometry, for example, are: point, line, plane) are introduced by means of definitions expressing them through previously introduced or derived concepts. A classic example deductive theory is the geometry of Euclid. The deductive method builds theories in mathematics, mathematical logic, theoretical physics;
- the second method has not received a name in the literature, but it certainly exists, since in all other sciences, except for the above, theories are built according to the method, which we will call inductive-deductive: first, an empirical basis is accumulated, on the basis of which theoretical generalizations (induction) are built, which can be built into several levels - for example, empirical laws and theoretical laws - and then these obtained generalizations can be extended to all objects and phenomena covered by this theory (deduction).
The inductive-deductive method is used to construct most of the theories in the sciences of nature, society and man: physics, chemistry, biology, geology, geography, psychology, pedagogy, etc.
Other theoretical methods research (in the sense of methods - cognitive actions): identifying and resolving contradictions, posing a problem, building hypotheses, etc. up to the planning of scientific research were considered earlier in the specifics of the time structure research activities– construction of phases, stages and stages of scientific research.
Empirical methods (methods-operations).
The study of literature, documents and results of activities. Issues of working with scientific literature will be considered separately below, since this is not only a research method, but also an obligatory procedural component of any scientific work.
A variety of documentation also serves as a source of factual material for the study: archival materials in historical research; documentation of enterprises, organizations and institutions in economic, sociological, pedagogical and other studies.
The study of performance results plays an important role in pedagogy, especially in the study of problems vocational training pupils and students; in psychology, pedagogy and sociology of labor; and, for example, in archeology, during excavations, an analysis of the results of people's activities: according to the remains of tools, utensils, dwellings, etc. allows you to restore their way of life in a particular era.
Observation is, in principle, the most informative research method. This is the only method that allows you to see all aspects of the phenomena and processes under study, accessible to the perception of the observer - both directly and with the help of various instruments.
Depending on the goals that are pursued in the process of observation, the latter can be scientific and non-scientific.
Purposeful and organized perception of objects and phenomena of the external world, associated with the solution of a certain scientific problem or task, is commonly called scientific observation. Scientific observations involve obtaining certain information for further theoretical understanding and interpretation, for the approval or refutation of a hypothesis, etc.
Scientific observation consists of the following procedures:
Definition of the purpose of observation (for what, for what purpose?);
Choice of object, process, situation (what to observe?);
Choice of method and frequency of observations (how to observe?);
The choice of methods for registering the observed object, phenomenon (how to record the information received?);
Processing and interpretation of the received information (what is the result?).
Observed situations are divided into:
natural and artificial;
Controlled and not controlled by the subject of observation;
Spontaneous and organized;
Standard and non-standard;
Normal and extreme, etc.
In addition, depending on the organization of observation, it can be open and hidden, field and laboratory, and depending on the nature of fixation, it can be ascertaining, evaluating and mixed. According to the method of obtaining information, observations are divided into direct and instrumental. According to the scope of the studied objects, continuous and sample observations; by frequency - constant, periodic and single. A special case of observation is self-observation, which is widely used, for example, in psychology.
Observation is necessary for scientific knowledge, since without it science would not be able to obtain initial information, would not have scientific facts and empirical data, therefore, the theoretical construction of knowledge would also be impossible.
However, observation as a method of cognition has a number of significant drawbacks. The personal characteristics of the researcher, his interests, and finally, his psychological condition can significantly affect the results of the observation. The objective results of observation are even more subject to distortion in those cases when the researcher is focused on obtaining a certain result, on confirming his existing hypothesis.
To obtain objective results of observation, it is necessary to comply with the requirements of intersubjectivity, that is, observation data must (and / or can) be obtained and recorded, if possible, by other observers.
Replacing direct observation with devices significantly expands the possibilities of observation, but also does not exclude subjectivity; evaluation and interpretation of such indirect observation is carried out by the subject, and therefore the subjective influence of the researcher can still take place.
Observation is most often accompanied by another empirical method - measurement.
Measurement. Measurement is used everywhere, in any human activity. So, almost every person during the day takes measurements dozens of times, looking at the clock. The general definition of measurement is: “Measurement is cognitive process, which consists in comparing ... a given quantity with some of its values, taken as a comparison standard.
In particular, measurement is an empirical method (method-operation) of scientific research.
You can select a specific dimension structure that includes the following elements:
1) a cognizing subject that carries out measurement with certain cognitive goals;
2) measuring instruments, among which there can be both devices and tools designed by man, and objects and processes given by nature;
3) the object of measurement, that is, the measured quantity or property to which the comparison procedure is applicable;
4) method or method of measurement, which is a combination of practical action, operations performed using measuring instruments, and also includes certain logical and computational procedures;
5) the measurement result, which is a named number, expressed using the appropriate names or characters.
The epistemological substantiation of the measurement method is inextricably linked with the scientific understanding of the ratio of qualitative and quantitative characteristics of the object (phenomenon) being studied. Although this method fixes only quantitative characteristics, these characteristics are inextricably linked with the qualitative certainty of the object under study. It is thanks to the qualitative certainty that it is possible to single out the quantitative characteristics to be measured. The unity of the qualitative and quantitative aspects of the object under study means both the relative independence of these aspects and their deep interconnection.
The relative independence of quantitative characteristics makes it possible to study them during the measurement process, and use the measurement results to analyze the qualitative aspects of the object.
The problem of measurement accuracy also refers to the epistemological foundations of measurement as a method of empirical knowledge. Measurement accuracy depends on the ratio of objective and subjective factors in the measurement process.
These objective factors include:
- the possibility of identifying certain stable quantitative characteristics in the object under study, which in many cases of research, in particular, social and humanitarian phenomena and processes is difficult, and sometimes even impossible;
- the capabilities of measuring instruments (the degree of their perfection) and the conditions in which the measurement process takes place. In some cases, finding the exact value of the quantity is fundamentally impossible. It is impossible, for example, to determine the trajectory of an electron in an atom, and so on.
The subjective factors of measurement include the choice of measurement methods, the organization of this process and a whole range of cognitive capabilities of the subject - from the qualification of the experimenter to his ability to correctly and competently interpret the results.
Along with direct measurements, the method of indirect measurement is widely used in the process of scientific experimentation. With indirect measurement, the desired value is determined on the basis of direct measurements of other quantities associated with the first functional dependence. According to the measured values of the mass and volume of the body, its density is determined; the resistivity of a conductor can be found from the measured values of resistance, length and cross-sectional area of the conductor, etc. The role of indirect measurements is especially great in cases where direct measurement under conditions objective reality impossible. For example, the mass of any space object (natural) is determined using mathematical calculations based on the use of measurement data of other physical quantities.
Poll. This empirical method is used only in the social and human sciences. The survey method is divided into oral survey and written survey.
Oral survey (conversation, interview). The essence of the method is clear from its name. During the survey, the questioner has personal contact with the respondent, that is, he has the opportunity to see how the respondent reacts to a particular question.
The observer can, if necessary, ask various additional questions and thus obtain additional data on some uncovered issues.
Oral surveys give concrete results, and with their help you can get comprehensive answers to complex questions of interest to the researcher. However, the respondents answer the questions of a “delicate” nature in writing much more frankly and at the same time give more detailed and thorough answers.
The respondent spends less time and energy on a verbal response than on a written one. However, this method also has its downsides. All respondents are in different conditions, some of them can get additional information through leading questions of the researcher; facial expression or any gesture of the researcher has some effect on the respondent.
Written survey - questioning. It is based on a pre-designed questionnaire (questionnaire), and the answers of respondents (interviewees) to all positions of the questionnaire constitute the desired empirical information.
The quality of empirical information obtained as a result of a survey depends on such factors as the wording of the questionnaire questions, which should be understandable to the interviewee; qualifications, experience, conscientiousness, psychological characteristics of researchers; the situation of the survey, its conditions; the emotional state of the respondents; customs and traditions, ideas, everyday situation; and also attitudes towards the survey. Therefore, when using such information, it is always necessary to make allowances for the inevitability of subjective distortions due to its specific individual “refraction” in the minds of the respondents. And where we are talking oh fundamentally important issues, along with the survey, they also turn to other methods - observation, expert assessments, analysis of documents.
In order to obtain reliable information about the phenomenon or process under study, it is not necessary to interview the entire contingent, since the object of study can be numerically very large. In cases where the object of study exceeds several hundred people, a selective survey is used.
Method of expert assessments. In essence, this is a kind of survey associated with the involvement in the assessment of the phenomena under study, the processes of the most competent people, whose opinions, complementing and rechecking each other, make it possible to fairly objectively evaluate the researched. The use of this method requires a number of conditions. First of all, it is a careful selection of experts - people who know the area being assessed, the object under study well and are capable of an objective, unbiased assessment.
Varieties of the expert assessment method are: the commission method, the brainstorming method, the Delphi method, the heuristic forecasting method, etc.
Testing is an empirical method, a diagnostic procedure consisting in the application of tests (from the English test - task, test). Tests are usually given to the subjects either in the form of a list of questions that require short and unambiguous answers, or in the form of tasks, the solution of which does not take much time and also requires unambiguous solutions, or in the form of some short-term practical work subjects, such as qualifying trial work in vocational education, in labor economics, etc. Tests are divided into blank, hardware (for example, on a computer) and practical; for individual and group use.
Here, perhaps, are all the empirical methods-operations that the scientific community has at its disposal today. Next, we will consider empirical methods-actions, which are based on the use of methods-operations and their combinations.
Empirical methods (methods-actions).
Empirical methods-actions should, first of all, be divided into three classes. The first two classes can be attributed to the study of the current state of the object.
The first class is the methods of studying an object without its transformation, when the researcher does not make any changes, transformations in the object of study. More precisely, it does not make significant changes to the object - after all, according to the principle of complementarity (see above), the researcher (observer) cannot but change the object. Let's call them object tracking methods. These include: the tracking method itself and its particular manifestations - examination, monitoring, study and generalization of experience.
Another class of methods is associated with the active transformation of the object being studied by the researcher - let's call these methods transforming methods - this class will include such methods as experimental work and experiment.
The third class of methods refers to the study of the state of an object in time: in the past - retrospection and in the future - forecasting.
Tracking, often, in a number of sciences is, perhaps, the only empirical method-action. For example, in astronomy. After all, astronomers cannot yet influence the studied space objects. The only possibility is to track their state through methods-operations: observation and measurement. The same, to a large extent, applies to such branches of scientific knowledge as geography, demography, etc., where the researcher cannot change anything in the object of study.
In addition, tracking is also used when the goal of studying is set. natural functioning object. For example, when studying certain features radioactive emissions or when studying the reliability of technical devices, which is checked by their long-term operation.
Examination - how special case tracking method is the study of the object under study with one or another measure of depth and detail, depending on the tasks set by the researcher. A synonym for the word “examination” is “inspection”, which means that the examination is basically the initial study of an object, carried out to familiarize itself with its state, functions, structure, etc.
Empirical (what is perceived by the senses) cognition is carried out in the process of experience, understood in the broadest sense, that is, as the interaction of the subject with the object, in which the subject not only passively reflects the object, but also actively changes, transforms it.
The empirical method consists in the successive performance of the following five operations: observation, measurement, modeling, forecasting, checking the forecast.
In science, the main forms empirical research are observation and experiment. In addition, they also include numerous measuring procedures, which, although closer to theory, are nevertheless carried out precisely within the framework of empirical knowledge and especially experiment.
The initial empirical procedure is observation, since it is included in the experiment and measurements, while the observations themselves can be carried out outside the experiment and do not involve measurements.
1. Observation - a purposeful study of objects, based mainly on the data of the sense organs (sensations, perceptions, ideas). In the course of observation, the knowledge gained is not only about the external aspects of the object of knowledge, but - as the ultimate goal - about its essential properties and relationships.
The concept of methods and techniques is often used as synonyms, but they are often distinguished when methods are used to refer to more complex cognitive procedures that include a whole set of different research techniques.
Observation can be direct and indirect with various instruments and technical devices (microscope, telescope, photo and movie camera, etc.). With the development of science, observation becomes more and more complex and indirect.
Basic requirements for scientific observation: unambiguous design; availability of a system of methods and techniques; objectivity, i.e., the possibility of control by either repeated observation or using other methods (for example, experiment).
Usually, observation is included as an integral part of the experimental procedure. An important point observation is the interpretation of its results - decoding of instrument readings, a curve on an oscilloscope, on an electrocardiogram, etc.
The cognitive result of observation is the description - fixing, by means of natural and artificial language, the initial information about the object under study: diagrams, graphs, diagrams, tables, figures, etc. Observation is closely related to measurement, which is the process of finding the ratio of a given quantity to another homogeneous quantity, taken as a unit of measurement. The measurement result is expressed as a number.
Observation is of particular difficulty in the social sciences and humanities, where its results depend to a greater extent on the personality of the observer, his life attitudes and principles, his interested attitude to the subject being studied.
In the course of observation, the researcher is always guided by a certain idea, concept or hypothesis. He does not just register any facts, but consciously selects those of them that either confirm or refute his ideas.
In this case, it is very important to select the most representative, i.e., the most representative group of facts in their relationship. The interpretation of an observation is always carried out with the help of certain theoretical propositions.
2. Experiment - active and purposeful intervention in the course of the process under study, a corresponding change in the object or its reproduction in specially created and controlled conditions.
Thus, in an experiment, an object is either reproduced artificially, or placed in a certain way given conditions that meet the objectives of the study. During the experiment, the object under study is isolated from the influence of side circumstances that obscure its essence and is presented in its purest form. At the same time, the specific conditions of the experiment are not only set, but also controlled, modernized, and repeatedly reproduced.
Every scientific experiment is always guided by some idea, concept, hypothesis. Experimental data are always theoretically loaded in one way or another - from its formulation to the interpretation of its results.
The main features of the experiment:
a) a more active (than during observation) attitude towards the object, up to its change and transformation;
b) multiple reproducibility of the object under study at the request of the researcher;
c) the possibility of detecting such properties of phenomena that are not observed in natural conditions;
d) the possibility of considering a phenomenon in its "pure" form by isolating it from the circumstances complicating and masking its course or by changing, varying the conditions of the experiment;
e) the ability to control the behavior of the object of study and verify the results.
The main stages of the experiment: planning and construction (its purpose, type, means, methods of conducting); the control; interpretation of results.
The experiment has two interrelated functions: experimental testing of hypotheses and theories, as well as the formation of new scientific concepts. Depending on these functions, experiments are distinguished: research (search), verification (control), reproducing, isolating.
By the nature of the objects, physical, chemical, biological, social experiments are distinguished. Of great importance in modern science is the decisive experiment, the purpose of which is to refute one and confirm the other of the two (or more) concepts that compete.
This difference is relative: an experiment conceived as a confirmatory experiment may turn out to be a refuting one, and vice versa. But in any case, the experiment consists in posing specific questions to nature, the answers to which should provide information about its regularities.
One of simple types scientific experiment - a qualitative experiment aimed at establishing the presence or absence of a phenomenon proposed by a hypothesis or theory. A more complex quantitative experiment that reveals the quantitative certainty of some property of the phenomenon under study.
A thought experiment has become widespread in modern science - a system of mental procedures carried out on idealized objects. The thought experiment is theoretical model real experimental situations. Here the scientist operates not with real objects and conditions of their existence, but with their conceptual images.
Social experiments are developing more and more widely, which contribute to the introduction of new forms of social organization and optimization of social management. The object of the social experiment, which is certain group people, is one of the participants in the experiment, whose interests have to be taken into account, and the researcher himself is included in the situation he is studying.
3. Comparison is a cognitive operation that underlies judgments about the similarity or difference of objects. With the help of comparison, qualitative and quantitative characteristics of objects are revealed.
To compare is to compare one with the other in order to identify their relationship. The simplest and important type relations revealed by comparison are relations of identity and difference.
It should be borne in mind that comparison makes sense only in the aggregate of homogeneous objects that form a class. Comparison of objects in a class is carried out according to the features that are essential for this consideration, while objects compared on one basis may be incomparable on another.
Comparison is the basis of such a logical device as analogy, and serves as the starting point for the comparative historical method.
This is the method by which, by means of comparison, the general and particular in historical and other phenomena are revealed, knowledge of the various stages of development of the same phenomenon or different coexisting phenomena is achieved.
This method allows you to identify and compare the levels in the development of the phenomenon under study, the changes that have occurred, and determine development trends. Scientific methods of theoretical research
1. Formalization - displaying meaningful knowledge in a sign-symbolic form. Formalization is based on the distinction between natural and artificial languages. The expression of thinking in natural language can be considered the first step of formalization. Natural languages as a means of communication are characterized by ambiguity, versatility, flexibility, inaccuracy, figurativeness, etc. This is an open, continuously changing system that constantly acquires new meaning and meaning.
Further deepening of formalization is associated with the construction of artificial (formalized) languages, designed to express knowledge more accurately and rigorously than natural language, in order to exclude the possibility of ambiguous understanding - which is typical for natural language (the language of mathematics, logic, chemistry, etc.)
Symbolic languages of mathematics and others exact sciences pursue not only the goal of shortening the record - this can be done with the help of shorthand. The language of artificial language formulas becomes a tool of knowledge. It plays the same role in theoretical knowledge as the microscope and telescope in empirical knowledge.
It is the use of special symbols that allows us to eliminate the ambiguity of words ordinary language. In formalized reasoning, each symbol is strictly unambiguous.
As a universal medium for communication and the exchange of thoughts and information, language performs many functions.
An important task of logic and methodology is to convey and transform existing information as accurately as possible and thereby eliminate some of the shortcomings of natural language. For this, artificial formalized languages are created. Such languages are used primarily in scientific knowledge, and in recent years they have become widespread in programming and algorithmization. various processes with the help of computers.
The advantage of artificial languages lies primarily in their accuracy, unambiguity, and most importantly, in the possibility of representing ordinary meaningful reasoning by means of calculation.
The value of formalization in scientific knowledge is as follows.
o It makes it possible to analyze, clarify, define and clarify (explicate) concepts. Ordinary representations (expressed in colloquial language), although they seem more clear and obvious from the point of view of common sense, turn out to be unsuitable for scientific knowledge due to their uncertainty, ambiguity and inaccuracy.
o She acquires special role when analyzing evidence. Presentation of the proof in the form of a sequence of formulas obtained from the original ones with the help of precisely specified transformation rules gives them the necessary rigor and accuracy.
o It serves as the basis for the processes of algorithmization and programming of computing devices, and thus the computerization of not only scientific and technical, but also other forms of knowledge.
When formalizing, reasoning about objects is transferred to the plane of operating with signs (formulas). The relations of signs replace statements about the properties and relations of objects.
In this way, a generalized sign model of a certain subject area is created, which makes it possible to discover the structure of various phenomena and processes, while abstracting from the qualitative, meaningful characteristics of the latter.
The main thing in the process of formalization is that it is possible to perform operations on the formulas of artificial languages, to obtain new formulas and relations from them.
Thus, operations with thoughts about objects are replaced by actions with signs and symbols. Formalization in this sense is a logical method of refining the content of thought by refining its logical form. But it has nothing in common with the absolutization of logical form in relation to content.
Formalization, therefore, is a generalization of the forms of processes that differ in content, the abstraction of these forms from their content. It clarifies the content by identifying its form and can be carried out with varying degrees completeness.
2. The axiomatic method is one of the ways of deductively constructing scientific theories, in which:
a) a system of basic terms of science is formulated;
b) from these terms a certain set of axioms (postulates) is formed - positions that do not require proof and are initial, from which all other statements of this theory are derived according to certain rules;
c) a system of inference rules is formulated that makes it possible to transform the initial positions and move from one position to another, as well as introduce new terms (concepts) into the theory;
d) the transformation of postulates is carried out according to the rules, which make it possible to obtain a set of provable provisions - theorems from a limited number of axioms.
Thus, to derive theorems from axioms, special rules of inference are formulated.
All the concepts of the theory, except for the primitive ones, are introduced by means of definitions expressing them in terms of previously introduced concepts.
Therefore, the proof in the axiomatic method is a certain sequence of formulas, each of which is either an axiom or is obtained from the previous formulas according to some rule of inference.
The axiomatic method is only one of the methods for constructing scientific knowledge. It has limited application, since it requires a high level of development of axiomatic content theory.
3. Hypothetical-deductive method. Its essence lies in the creation of a system of deductively interconnected hypotheses, from which statements about empirical facts are ultimately derived.
This method is thus based on the derivation (deduction) of conclusions from hypotheses and other premises, true value which are unknown. Therefore, the conclusions here are probabilistic.
This nature of the conclusion is also connected with the fact that conjecture, intuition, imagination, and inductive generalization are involved in the formation of a hypothesis, not to mention the experience, qualifications and talent of a scientist. And all these factors are almost not amenable to strictly logical analysis.
Initial concepts: hypothesis (assumption) - a position put forward at the beginning of a preliminary conditional explanation of a certain phenomenon or group of phenomena; assumption about the existence of some phenomenon. The truth of such an assumption is uncertain, it is problematic.
Deduction (inference): a) in the most general sense - this is the transition in the process of cognition from the general to the particular (single), the derivation of the latter from the first; b) in a special sense - the process of logical inference, i.e., the transition, according to certain rules of logic, from certain given assumptions (premisses) to their consequences (conclusions).
The general structure of the hypothetical-deductive method (or the method of hypotheses):
Familiarization with factual material requiring theoretical explanation and trying one with already existing theories and laws. If not, then:
Making guesses (assumptions) about the causes and patterns of these phenomena using many logical techniques.
Evaluation of the severity of the assumptions and selection of the most probable from the set of guesses.
In this case, the hypothesis is checked for: a) logical consistency; b) compatibility with fundamental theoretical principles given science (for example, with the law of conservation and transformation of energy).
However, it should be borne in mind that during scientific revolutions it is the fundamental principles that collapse and insane ideas arise that cannot be derived from these principles.
o Derivation from a hypothesis (usually by deductive means) of consequences with specification of its content.
o Experimental verification of the consequences derived from the hypothesis. Here the hypothesis or gets experimental confirmation, or refuted. However, confirmation does not guarantee its truth in general (or falsity).
From a logical point of view, the hypothetical-deductive method is a hierarchy of hypotheses, the degree of abstractness and generality of which increases with distance from the empirical basis.
At the very top are the hypotheses that have the most general character and therefore have the greatest logical force. Hypotheses of a lower level are derived from them as premises. At the lowest level are hypotheses that can be compared with empirical reality.
A variation of the hypothetical-deductive method can be considered a mathematical hypothesis, where some equations are hypotheses that represent a modification of previously known and verified relationships. By changing these ratios, they make up a new equation expressing a hypothesis that refers to unexplored phenomena.
The hypothetical-deductive method is not so much a method of discovery as a way of constructing and substantiating scientific knowledge, since it shows exactly how a new hypothesis can be arrived at. Already in the early stages of the development of science, this method was especially widely used by Galileo and Newton.
Zahalological methods and techniques of cognition
1. Analysis - the division of an object into its component parts in order to self-study. It is used both in real (practice) and in mental activity.
Types of analysis: mechanical dismemberment; definition of dynamic composition; identification of forms of interaction of elements of the whole; finding the causes of phenomena; identification of levels of knowledge and its structure, etc.
The analysis should not miss the quality of the subjects. Each field of knowledge has, as it were, its own limit of division of an object, beyond which we pass into another world of properties and regularities (atom, molecule, etc.). A variation of analysis is also the division of classes (sets) of objects into subclasses - classification and periodization.
2. Synthesis - the union - real or mental - of various aspects, parts of the subject into a single whole.
The result of synthesis is a completely new formation, the properties of which are not only an external connection of the properties of the components, but also the result of their internal interconnection and interdependence.
Analysis and synthesis are dialectically interrelated, but some activities are primarily analytical (for example, analytical chemistry) or synthetic (for example, synergetics).
3. Abstraction. Abstraction:
a) side, moment, part of the whole, a fragment of reality, something undeveloped, one-sided, fragmentary (abstract);
b) the process of mental abstraction from a number of properties and relations of the phenomenon under study with the simultaneous selection of the properties of interest to the cognizing subject at the given moment (abstraction);
c) the result that abstracts the activity of thinking (abstraction in the narrow sense).
These are various kinds of abstract objects, which are both individual concepts and categories, and their systems (the most developed of them are mathematics, logic and philosophy).
Finding out which of the considered properties are essential, and which are secondary, - main question abstraction.
The question of what in objective reality is distinguished by the abstract work of thinking, from which thinking is abstracted, in each specific case is decided depending primarily on the nature of the object being studied, as well as on the tasks of cognition.
In the course of its historical development, science ascends from one level of abstraction to another, higher one.
There are different types of abstractions:
Abstraction of identification, as a result of which the general properties and relations of the objects under study are singled out. Here, classes corresponding to them are formed on the basis of establishing the equality of objects in given properties or relations, the identical in objects is taken into account, and all differences between them are abstracted.
Isolating abstraction - certain properties and relationships are highlighted, which begin to be considered as independent individual objects.
Abstraction of actual infinity in mathematics - when infinite sets are considered as finite. Here the researcher is distracted from the fundamental impossibility of fixing and describing each element of an infinite set, accepting such a problem as solved.
The abstraction of potential feasibility is based on the fact that any, but a finite number of operations can be carried out in the process of mathematical activity.
Abstractions also differ in levels (orders). Abstractions from real objects are called first-order abstractions. Abstractions from first-level abstractions are called second-order abstractions, and so on. Philosophical categories are characterized by the highest level of abstraction.
4. Idealization is most often considered as a specific kind of abstraction. Idealization is the mental construction of concepts about objects that do not exist and are not feasible in reality, but those for which there are prototypes in the real world.
In the process of idealization, there is an extreme abstraction from all the real properties of the object with the simultaneous introduction into the content of the formed concepts of features that are not realized in reality. As a result, a so-called idealized object is formed, which can be used by theoretical thinking when reflecting real objects.
As a result of idealization, such a theoretical model is formed in which the characteristics and aspects of a cognizable object are not only abstracted from the actual empirical material, but, through mental construction, appear in a more sharply and fully expressed form than in reality itself.
An idealized object ultimately acts as a reflection of real objects and processes.
Having formed theoretical constructs with the help of idealization of such objects, one can further operate them in reasoning as a really existing thing and build abstract schemes of real processes that serve for a deeper understanding of them.
Thus, idealized objects are not pure fictions that have nothing to do with reality, but are the result of a very complex and indirect reflection of it.
An idealized object represents real objects in cognition, but not according to all, but only according to some, rigidly fixed features. It is a simplified and schematized image of a real object.
Theoretical statements, as a rule, directly refer not to real objects, but to idealized objects, cognitive activity with which allows you to establish significant connections and patterns that are inaccessible in the study of real objects, taken in all the variety of their empirical properties and relationships.
Idealized objects are the result of various mental experiments that are aimed at realizing some case that is not actually realized. In developed scientific theories, not individual idealized objects and their properties are usually considered, but integral systems of idealized objects and their structures.
5. Generalization - the process of establishing the general properties and characteristics of objects. Closely related to abstraction. The epistemological basis of generalization are the categories of the general and the singular.
It is necessary to distinguish between two types of general:
a) abstract-general as simple similarity, external similarity, superficial similarity of a number of single objects (the so-called abstract-common feature). This type the general, singled out by comparison, plays an important but limited role in cognition;
b) the concrete-general as the law of the existence and development of a number of individual phenomena in their interaction as part of the whole, as unity in diversity. This type of general expresses the internal, deep, repetitive in the group similar phenomena basis - the essence in its developed form, that is, the law.
The general is inseparable from the individual (separate) as its opposite, and their unity is special. Single (individual, separate) is a philosophical category that expresses the specificity, originality of a given phenomenon (or a group of phenomena of the same quality), its difference from others.
In accordance with the two types of general, two types of scientific generalizations are distinguished: the selection of any features (abstract-general) or essential (concrete-general, law).
On another basis, generalizations can be distinguished:
a) from individual facts, events to their expression in thoughts (inductive generalization);
b) from one thought to another, more general thought (logical generalization). The mental transition from the more general to the less general is a process of limitation.
The generalization cannot be unlimited. Its limit is philosophical categories that do not have a generic concept and therefore cannot be generalized.
6. Induction - a logical method of research associated with the generalization of the results of observations and experiments and the movement of thought from the singular to the general.
In induction, the data of experience point to the general, induce it. Since experience is always infinite and incomplete, inductive inferences are always problematic. Inductive generalizations are usually viewed as empirical truths or empirical laws. The following types of inductive generalizations are distinguished: A. Popular induction, when regularly repeating properties observed in some representatives of the studied set and fixed in the premises of inductive reasoning are transferred to all representatives of the studied set - including its unexplored parts.
B. The induction is incomplete, where it is concluded that all representatives of the set under study have a property on the basis that this property belongs to some representatives of this set.
The induction is complete, in which it is concluded that all representatives of the studied set have a property based on the information obtained during the study that each representative of the studied set owns this property.
Considering the full induction, it is necessary to keep in mind that:
D. Scientific induction, in which, in addition to the formal substantiation of the generalization obtained by induction, an additional substantive substantiation of its truth is given, including with the help of deduction (theories, laws). Scientific induction gives a reliable conclusion due to the fact that here the emphasis is on necessary, regular and causal relationships.
D. Mathematical induction - used as a specific mathematical proof, where induction is organically combined with deduction, assumption with proof.
The considered methods of establishing causal relationships are most often used not in isolation, but in interconnection, complementing each other. In this case, one should not make the mistake: "after this, because of this."
7. Deduction:
a) the transition in the process of cognition from the general to the individual (private); derivation of the individual from the general;
b) the process of logical inference, i.e., the transition, according to certain rules of logic, from some given sentences - premises to their consequences (conclusions).
As one of the methods of scientific knowledge is closely related to induction, these are dialectically interconnected ways of thought movement.
The analogy does not reliable knowledge: if the premises of reasoning by analogy are true, this does not mean that its conclusion will also be true.
To increase the likelihood of conclusions by analogy, it is necessary to strive to ensure that:
a) internal rather than external properties of the objects being matched have been captured;
b) these objects were similar in the most important and essential features, and not in random and secondary ones;
c) the circle of matching signs was as wide as possible;
d) not only similarities were taken into account, but also differences - so that the latter would not be transferred to another object.
8. Modeling. Inferences by analogy, understood extremely broadly, as the transfer of information from one object to another, form the epistemological basis of modeling - a method of studying objects on their models.
A model is an analogue of a certain fragment of reality, a product of human culture, conceptual and theoretical images, that is, the original of the model.
This analogue is a representative of the original in knowledge and practice. It serves to store and expand knowledge (information) about the original, construct the original, transform or manage it.
Between the model and the original there must be a known similarity (similarity relation): physical characteristics, functions; the behavior of the object under study and its mathematical description; structures, etc. It is this similarity that allows you to transfer the information obtained as a result of the study of the model to the original.
The forms of modeling are varied and depend on the models used and the scope of the modeling.
According to the nature of the models, material and ideal modeling are distinguished, expressed in the corresponding sign form.
Material models are natural objects which obey in their functioning natural laws - physics, mechanics. In the physical (objective) modeling of a specific object, its study is replaced by the study of some model that has the same physical nature as the original (models of aircraft, ships).
With ideal (sign) modeling, models appear in the form of diagrams, graphs, drawings, formulas, systems of equations, and proposals.
9. System approach - a set of general scientific methodological principles (requirements), which are based on the consideration of objects as systems.
A system is a general scientific concept that expresses a set of elements that are in relationships and connections with each other and with the environment, forming a certain integrity, unity.
The types of systems are very diverse: material and spiritual, inorganic and living, mechanical and organic, biological and social, static and dynamic, open and closed.
Any system is a set of various elements with structure and organization.
Structure: a) a set of stable connections of the object, ensuring its integrity and identity to itself; b) a relatively stable way of connecting the elements of a complex whole.
The specificity of the system approach is determined by the fact that it focuses the study on the disclosure of the integrity of the object and the mechanisms that ensure it, on the identification of diverse types of connections of a complex object and their reduction into a single theoretical picture.
The main requirements of a systematic approach include the following:
a) identifying the dependence of each element on its place and functions in the system, taking into account the fact that the properties of the whole are not reducible to the sum of the properties of its elements;
b) analysis of the extent to which the behavior of the system is determined both by the characteristics of its individual elements and by the properties of its structure;
c) study of the mechanism of interdependence, interaction of the system and the environment;
d) study of the nature of the hierarchy inherent in this system;
e) providing a plurality of descriptions for the purpose of multidimensional coverage of the system;
f) consideration of the dynamism of the system, its presentation as an integrity that develops.
An important concept of the systems approach is the concept of self-organization. This concept characterizes the process of creating, reproducing or improving the organization of a complex, open, dynamic, self-developing system, the links between the elements of which are not rigid, but probabilistic.
10. Probabilistic (statistical) methods - based on taking into account the action of many random factors that are characterized by a stable frequency. This makes it possible to reveal the necessity that "breaks through" through the cumulative action of many accidents.
Probabilistic methods are based on the theory of probability, which is often called the science of randomness, and in the view of many scientists, probability and randomness are practically inseparable.
There is even a statement that today chance appears as independent start world, its structure and evolution. The categories of necessity and chance are by no means obsolete; on the contrary, their role in modern science has increased significantly.
To understand these methods, it is necessary to consider the concept of dynamic patterns, statistical patterns and probability.
In laws of the dynamic type, predictions have a precisely defined unambiguous character. Dynamic laws characterize the behavior of relatively isolated objects, consisting of not a large number elements in which you can abstract from a number of random factors.
In statistical laws, predictions are not reliable, but only probabilistic. This nature of predictions is due to the action of many random factors.
A statistical regularity arises as a result of the interaction of a large number of elements that make up a collective, and therefore characterizes not so much the behavior of an individual element as the collective as a whole.
The necessity that manifests itself in statistical laws arises as a result of mutual compensation and balancing of many random factors.
Statistical laws, although they do not give unambiguous and reliable predictions, are nevertheless the only possible ones in the study of mass phenomena of a random nature. Behind the cumulative action of various factors of a random nature, which are almost impossible to capture, statistical laws reveal something stable, necessary, repetitive.
They serve as confirmation of the dialectic of the transformation of the accidental into the necessary. Dynamic laws turn out to be the limiting case of statistical ones, when probability becomes practically certainty.
Probability is a concept that characterizes a quantitative measure of the possibility of the occurrence of some random event under certain conditions that can be repeated many times. One of the main tasks of the theory of probability is to elucidate the regularities arising from the interaction of a large number of random factors.
Probabilistic-statistical methods are widely used in the study of mass phenomena - especially in such scientific disciplines as mathematical statistics, statistical physics, quantum mechanics, cybernetics, synergetics.
2.1. General scientific methods 5
2.2. Methods of empirical and theoretical knowledge. 7
- Bibliography. 12
1. The concept of methodology and method.
Any scientific research is carried out by certain methods and methods, according to certain rules. The doctrine of the system of these techniques, methods and rules is called methodology. However, the concept of "methodology" in the literature is used in two meanings:
1) a set of methods used in any field of activity (science, politics, etc.);
2) the doctrine of the scientific method of cognition.
Methodology (from "method" and "logy") - the doctrine of the structure, logical organization, methods and means of activity.
A method is a set of techniques or operations of practical or theoretical activity. The method can also be characterized as a form of theoretical and practical development of reality, based on the laws of behavior of the object under study.
Methods of scientific knowledge include the so-called general methods, i.e. universal methods of thinking, general scientific methods and methods of specific sciences. Methods can also be classified according to the ratio of empirical knowledge (i.e. knowledge obtained as a result of experience, experimental knowledge) and theoretical knowledge, the essence of which is the knowledge of the essence of phenomena, their internal connections. The classification of methods of scientific knowledge is presented in fig. 1.2.
Each industry applies its specific scientific, special methods, due to the essence of the object of study. However, often methods specific to a particular science are used in other sciences. This happens because the objects of study of these sciences are also subject to the laws of this science. For example, physical and chemical methods research is applied in biology on the basis that the objects of biological research include, in one form or another, physical and chemical forms motions of matter and, therefore, obey physical and chemical laws.
There are two universal methods in the history of knowledge: dialectical and metaphysical. These are general philosophical methods.
The dialectical method is a method of cognition of reality in its inconsistency, integrity and development.
The metaphysical method is a method opposite to the dialectical one, considering phenomena outside their mutual connection and development.
From the middle of the 19th century, the metaphysical method was more and more displaced from natural science by the dialectical method.
2. Methods of scientific knowledge
2.1. General scientific methods
The ratio of general scientific methods can also be represented in the form of a diagram (Fig. 2).
Brief description of these methods.
Analysis is the mental or real decomposition of an object into its constituent parts.
Synthesis is the unification of the elements known as a result of analysis into a single whole.
Generalization - the process of mental transition from the individual to the general, from the less general to the more general, for example: the transition from the judgment "this metal conducts electricity" to the judgment "all metals conduct electricity", from the judgment: "the mechanical form of energy turns into heat" to to the proposition “every form of energy is converted into thermal energy”.
Abstraction (idealization) - the mental introduction of certain changes in the object under study in accordance with the objectives of the study. As a result of idealization, some properties, features of objects that are not essential for this study may be excluded from consideration. An example of such an idealization in mechanics is a material point, i.e. a point that has mass but no dimensions. The same abstract (ideal) object is an absolutely rigid body.
Induction - the process of deriving a general position from the observation of a number of particular single facts, i.e. knowledge from the particular to the general. In practice, incomplete induction is most often used, which involves the conclusion about all the objects of the set based on the knowledge of only a part of the objects. Incomplete induction based on experimental studies and including theoretical background is called scientific induction. The conclusions of such induction are often probabilistic. This is a risky but creative method. With a strict formulation of the experiment, logical sequence and rigor of conclusions, it is able to give a reliable conclusion. According to the famous French physicist Louis de Broglie, scientific induction is the true source of truly scientific progress.
Deduction is the process of analytical reasoning from the general to the particular or less general. It is closely related to generalization. If the original general provisions are established scientific truth, then the method of deduction will always arrive at the true conclusion. The deductive method is especially important in mathematics. Mathematicians operate with mathematical abstractions and build their reasoning on general principles. These general provisions apply to solving particular, specific problems.
Analogy is a probable, plausible conclusion about the similarity of two objects or phenomena in some feature, based on their established similarity in other features. The analogy with the simple allows us to understand the more complex. So, by analogy with the artificial selection of the best breeds of domestic animals, Charles Darwin discovered the law of natural selection in the animal and plant world.
Modeling is the reproduction of the properties of the object of knowledge on its specially arranged analogue - the model. Models can be real (material), for example, aircraft models, building models, photographs, prostheses, dolls, etc. and ideal (abstract) created by means of language (as a natural human language, and special languages, for example, the language of mathematics. In this case, we have a mathematical model. Usually it is a system of equations that describes the relationships in the system under study.
The historical method implies the reproduction of the history of the object under study in all its versatility, taking into account all the details and accidents. The logical method is, in fact, the logical reproduction of the history of the object under study. At the same time, this history is freed from everything accidental, insignificant, i.e. it's like the same historical method, but freed from its historical form.
Classification - the distribution of certain objects into classes (departments, categories) depending on their common features, fixing regular connections between classes of objects in a single system of a particular branch of knowledge. The formation of each science is associated with the creation of classifications of the studied objects, phenomena.
2. 2 Methods of empirical and theoretical knowledge.
The methods of empirical and theoretical knowledge are schematically presented in Fig.3.
observation.
Observation is a sensual reflection of objects and phenomena of the external world. This is the initial method of empirical knowledge, which allows obtaining some primary information about the objects of the surrounding reality.
Scientific observation is characterized by a number of features:
purposefulness (observation should be carried out to solve the task of the study);
regularity (observation should be carried out strictly according to the plan drawn up on the basis of the research task);
activity (the researcher must actively search, highlight the moments he needs in the observed phenomenon).
Scientific observations are always accompanied by a description of the object of knowledge. The latter is necessary to fix the technical properties, aspects of the object under study, which constitute the subject of the study. Descriptions of the results of observations form the empirical basis of science, based on which researchers create empirical generalizations, compare the studied objects according to certain parameters, classify them according to some properties, characteristics, and find out the sequence of stages of their formation and development.
According to the method of conducting observations, they can be direct and indirect.
With direct observation, certain properties, sides of the object are reflected, perceived by the human senses. Currently, direct visual observation is widely used in space research as an important method of scientific knowledge. Visual observations from a manned orbital station- the simplest and most effective method studies of the parameters of the atmosphere, land surface and ocean from space in the visible range. From the orbit of an artificial satellite of the Earth, the human eye can confidently determine the boundaries of cloud cover, types of clouds, the boundaries of the removal of muddy river waters into the sea, etc.
However, most often the observation is indirect, that is, it is carried out using certain technical means. If, for example, before early XVII centuries, astronomers observed celestial bodies with the naked eye, the invention by Galileo in 1608 of an optical telescope raised astronomical observations to a new, much higher level.
Observations can often play an important heuristic role in scientific knowledge. In the process of observation, completely new phenomena can be discovered, which make it possible to substantiate one or another scientific hypothesis. From the foregoing, it follows that observations are very important method empirical knowledge, providing the collection of extensive information about the world around.
Scientific research can be divided into three stages:
1. Installation stage
2. Actually research stage
3. Study processing stage
On the installation stage happens:
Choice of research topic,
Definition of the object and subject of research,
Setting goals and objectives of the study,
Choice of research methods.
On the research phase there is an information study of the topic, the result of which is: a review of the literature on the research topic; formed card file of publications on the topic, along the way collected information. An experiment or theoretical work is carried out with the receipt of own research results.
At the stage research processing there is a preparation and writing of a scientific text, which consists of:
shaping the idea,
Selection and preparation of materials,
Grouping and organizing materials
Manuscript processing.
The result of all this great, painstaking work is term paper or thesis.
Topic selection occurs in accordance with such a concept as relevance. Most often, a topic is chosen for research that is relevant when the need for research is caused by:
Solving vital problems
Building a concept to solve a problem
Research in a specific direction on certain period time
A study of the activities of a particular enterprise in a particular area of activity.
In different periods of time, different topics were relevant . Scientific research is determined by life itself. But there are also “eternal” themes. For example, the search for new sources of energy, new materials with desired properties, the study of man, etc.
Today, when the country's economy is in crisis, when the situation is rapidly changing both in politics and in the economy, the relevance of scientific research is also rapidly changing.
In the 1980s topics related to the introduction of cost accounting were actively developed. In the early 1990s topics related to the activities of commercial banks and the privatization of enterprises were studied. In the late 1990s there were topics related to the study of the activities of exchanges; transactions with securities, etc.
But what is "new"? This is a well-forgotten old one. Progressive spiral movement forward, but at a higher level. An example is the New Economic Policy, NEP in the 1920s. in Russia and the New Economic Policy in the 1990s. already in the "new" Russia.
Topics of research work (R&D) applied character as close as possible to everyday life. She solves momentary problems, basically. This can already be judged by the names (“in the new economic conditions” or for a specific industry or enterprise).
Theoretical research is more sustainable.
When writing a term paper, diploma or other written work in a concise presentation in the “Relevance of the topic” section, they show what tasks science and practice face in terms of the direction you have chosen in specific socio-economic conditions; what (in the most general concise presentation) has already been done by scientists, what has remained undisclosed. On this basis, a contradiction is formed. As you know, contradiction (scientific) is the most important logical form of the development of knowledge. Scientific theories develop as a result of the disclosure and resolution of contradictions found in previous theories or in the practical activities of people.
Based on the revealed contradiction, the problem is formulated. Not every contradiction in practice can be resolved by the means of science - it can be due to material, personnel difficulties, lack of equipment, etc. In addition, science does not resolve contradictions in practice, but only creates the prerequisites for their resolution, which may not be realized for various reasons.
Following the problem, it is necessary to understand what will be object and subject research.
An object in epistemology (theory of knowledge) - this is what opposes the cognizing subject in his cognitive activity. Those. this is that part of practice or scientific knowledge (in the case of theoretical, methodological research) with which the researcher deals.
Subject of study - this is that side, that aspect, that point of view, the projection from which the researcher cognizes an integral object, while highlighting the main, most significant features of the object from the researcher's point of view.
The same an object can be the subject of various studies and even scientific directions . For example, the object "man" can be studied by physiologists, psychologists, historians, sociologists, and so on. But thing these studies will be different for different specialists. For a physiologist, the subject of research will be, for example, the state of the human circulatory system; for a psychologist - the mental state of a person at the time of stress, etc.
Or such an object of research as “bank“. What can be the subject of bank research? The subject may be currency transactions of the bank; credit policy of the bank; bank personnel management; transactions with securities, etc.
The central moment is wording research objectives . The purpose of the study is what you in the most general form should or intend to achieve as a result of the work. What will the work be done for? What is the expected end result?
Examples of goal statements can be the following: develop, justify, analyze, generalize, identify, etc. When formulating a goal, the word “path” should be avoided.
The total number of goals should not be more than 2-3, so as not to clutter up the work. Each of the goals can be represented as tasks, the totality of the solution of which ensures their implementation. Simply put, setting goals clearly demonstrates what the researcher needs to do in order to achieve the goal?
The next step is to construct a hypothesis. Hypothesis is a scientific assumption, an assumption whose true value is uncertain. A hypothesis is one of the main methods for the development of scientific knowledge, which consists in putting forward a hypothesis and its subsequent experimental, and sometimes theoretical verification. As a result, the hypothesis is either confirmed, and it becomes a fact, concept, theory, or refuted, and then a new hypothesis etc. By formulating a hypothesis, you build an assumption about how you intend to achieve the goal of the study. It would be nice to have a multi-component hypothesis, or to construct it in such a way, in order to test several options. And then in the work it will be possible to say that something worked out and that's why, but something didn't work out, this assumption was erroneous. This will give credibility to the work.
What methods will be used to solve the tasks? This question must be answered by listing research methods .
Methodology- this is the whole set of research methods, including methods, techniques and various procedures (operations) with data.
Method (Greek - methodos) - in the broadest sense of the word - "the path to something", a way of the subject's activity in any of its forms.
Any scientific method is developed on the basis of a certain theory, which thus acts as its necessary prerequisite. The effectiveness, the strength of a particular method is due to the content, the depth of the fundamental nature of the theory, which is compressed into a method. In turn, the method "expands into the system", i.e. is used for the further development of science, deepening and deployment of theoretical knowledge as a system, use in practice.
Each method is primarily conditioned by its subject, i.e. what is being researched.
Any method, even the most important one, is only one of the many factors of human creative activity, which is not limited to logic and method. Creative activity can also include other factors: the strength and flexibility of the researcher's mind, his criticality, the depth of imagination, the development of fantasy, the ability to intuition, etc.
Research methods can be divided into methods of theoretical and empirical research, fundamental and applied, quantitative and qualitative methods, etc.
Each method has three main aspects:
Objective content
operational,
Praxeological.
The first aspect expresses the conditionality of the method by the subject of research through theory.
The operational aspect fixes the dependence of the content of the method not so much on the object, but on the subject, his competence, ability to translate the corresponding theory into a system of rules, principles, techniques, which together form the method.
The praxeological aspect of the method consists of such properties as efficiency, reliability, clarity, constructiveness, etc.
The characteristic features of the scientific method include objectivity, reproducibility, necessity, specificity, etc.
Method- a set of rules, techniques, operations of practical or theoretical development of reality. It serves to obtain and substantiate objectively true knowledge.
The nature of the method is determined by many factors:
The subject of research
The degree of generality of the tasks set,
accumulated experience,
The level of development of scientific knowledge, etc.
Methods that are suitable for one area of scientific research are unsuitable for achieving goals in other areas. At the same time, many outstanding achievements in science - a consequence of the transfer and use of methods that have proven themselves in other areas of research. Thus, on the basis of the applied methods, opposite processes of differentiation and integration of sciences take place.
The method of scientific research is a way of knowing objective reality. The method is a certain sequence of actions, techniques, operations.
Depending on the content of the studied objects, methods of natural science and methods of social and humanitarian research are distinguished.
Research methods are classified by branches of science: mathematical, biological, medical, socio-economic, legal, etc.
Depending on the level of knowledge, methods are distinguished:
1. Empirical
2. Theoretical
3. Metatheoretical levels.
The empirical level methods include observation, description, comparison, counting, measurement, questionnaire, interview, testing, experiment, modeling, etc.
The methods of the theoretical level include axiomatic, hypothetical (hypothetical-deductive), formalization, abstraction, general logical methods (analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction, analogy), etc.
Methods of the metatheoretical level are dialectical, metaphysical, hermeneutical, etc. Some scientists refer the method to this level. system analysis, and others include it among the general logical methods.
Depending on the scope and degree of generality, methods are distinguished:
1) universal (philosophical), operating in all sciences and at all stages of knowledge;
2) general scientific, which can be applied in the humanities, natural and technical sciences;
3) private - for related sciences;
4) special - for a particular science, area of scientific knowledge.
From the considered concept of method, it is necessary to delimit the concepts of technology, procedure and methodology of scientific research. Under the research technique is understood a set of special techniques for using a particular method, and under the research procedure - a certain sequence of actions, a method of organizing research.
A technique is a set of methods and techniques of cognition.
For example, the methodology of economic research is understood as a system of methods, techniques, means of collecting, processing, analyzing and evaluating information about economic phenomena, their causes and conditions.
Any scientific research is carried out by certain methods and methods, according to certain rules. The doctrine of the system of these techniques, methods and rules is called methodology.
However, the concept of "methodology" in the literature is used in two meanings:
1) a set of methods used in any field of activity (science, politics, etc.);
2) the doctrine of the scientific method of cognition.
The doctrine of methods - methodology . It seeks to streamline, systematize methods, establish the suitability of their application in various fields, answer the question of what kind of conditions, means and actions are necessary and sufficient for the realization of certain scientific goals.
The variety of human activities determines the use various methods, which can be classified in a variety of ways. In scientific knowledge, general and specific methods, empirical and theoretical, qualitative and quantitative, etc. are used.
At present, it has become obvious that the system of methods, methodology cannot be limited only to the sphere of scientific knowledge, it must go beyond it and certainly include the sphere of practice in its orbit. At the same time, it is necessary to bear in mind the close interaction of these two spheres.
As for the methods of science, there may be several reasons for their division into groups. So, depending on the role of place in the process of scientific knowledge, one can single out formal and substantive methods, empirical and theoretical, fundamental and applied methods, methods of research and presentation, etc.
There are also quality and quantitative methods, uniquely deterministic and probabilistic, methods of direct and indirect cognition, original and derivative, etc.
Among the characteristic features of the scientific method (whatever type it may be) most often include: objectivity, reproducibility, heuristic, necessity, specificity, etc.
The methodology of science develops a multi-level concept of methodological knowledge, which distributes all methods of scientific knowledge according to the degree of generality and scope.
With this approach, 5 main groups of methods can be distinguished:
1. Philosophical Methods, among which the most ancient are dialectical and metaphysical. Essentially, each philosophical concept has a methodological function, is a kind of way mental activity. Therefore, philosophical methods are not limited to the two named. They also include such methods as analytical (characteristic of modern analytical philosophy), intuitive, phenomenological, etc.
2. General scientific approaches and research methods which have been widely developed and applied in science. They act as a kind of "intermediate" methodology between philosophy and the fundamental theoretical and methodological provisions of the special sciences.
General scientific concepts most often include such concepts as “information”, “model”, “structure”, “function”, “system”, “element”, “optimality”, “probability”, etc.
The characteristic features of general scientific concepts are, firstly, the "fusion" in their content of individual properties, attributes, concepts of a number of particular sciences and philosophical categories. Secondly, the possibility (unlike the latter) of their formalization, refinement by means of mathematical theory, symbolic logic.
On the basis of general scientific concepts and concepts, the corresponding methods and principles of cognition are formulated, which ensure the connection and optimal interaction of philosophy with special scientific knowledge and its methods.
To the number general scientific principles and approaches include systemic and structural-functional, cybernetic, probabilistic, modeling, formalization and a number of others.
3. Private scientific methods - a set of methods, principles of knowledge, research techniques and procedures used in a particular science, corresponding to a given basic form of the movement of matter. These are methods of mechanics, physics, chemistry, biology and social sciences and humanities.
4. Disciplinary methods - a system of techniques used in a particular scientific discipline that is part of some branch of science or that arose at the intersection of sciences. Each fundamental science is a complex of disciplines that have their own specific subject and their own unique research methods.
5. Interdisciplinary research methods- a set of a number of synthetic, integrative methods (arising as a result of a combination of elements of different levels of methodology), aimed mainly at the junctions of scientific disciplines. These methods are widely used in the implementation of complex scientific programs.
Thus, methodology is a complex, dynamic, holistic, subordinated system of methods, techniques, principles different levels, scope, focus, heuristic possibilities, contents, structures, etc.
Two heads and six legs; four walk, and two lie still
Self-esteem - what is it: concept, structure, types and levels
Cassandra's Path, or Pasta Adventures War on Earth and Underground